Ass, Cash or Grass - No One Gets Rescued for Free

Listen as an American family tries to get help from the government to leave Beirut:

Just like everyone else, I'm watching the events in Lebanon and Israel closely, hoping the voilence stops soon. The Middle East seems to have grown even more unstable since the Clinton years, despite promises from Dick Cheney that invading Iraq would help the region:

Listen here:

Perhaps because the “cut ‘N run” accusers are too busy issuing indictments for sub-patriotic behavior, they didn’t notice that the very government for which they magnet up their car was making some soldiers pay for their damaged body armor. Because after all, had those soldiers been a bit more IED-savvy, they wouldn’t have ruined a perfectly good bullet proof vest. Careless kids.

And with this same crowd gearing up for the really important issues facing the world this November (gay marriage, flag burning, preventing stem cell research, and demanding evolution and sex education be removed from classrooms) they will surely be far too distracted to realize that the American government is making evacuees from Lebanon issue promisary notes to pay back the money for cruise ship tickets out of the country.

I’ll say that again. The Bush administration has sent cruise ships over to Lebanon to rescue Americans residing in a war zone, but only those who buy a ticket can leave.

And to those Americans stuck in Beruit not doing so well financially? Well, you should have thought about that before Hezbollah kidnapped a couple of Israeli soliders, now should you.

From the US Embassy in Lebanon:

The Department of State reminds American citizens that the U.S. government does not provide no-cost transportation but does have the authority to provide repatriation loans to those in financial need. For the portion of your trip directly handled by the U.S. Government we will ask you to sign a promissory note and we will bill you at a later date. In a subsequent message, when we have specific details about the transporation arrangments, we will inform you about the costs you will incur. We will also work with commercial aircraft to ensure that they have adequate flights to help you depart Cyprus and connect to your final destination.

Let's just hope the exit strategy for Americans in Iraq is different.

Meanwhile, the Right has weighed in on Americans in Lebanon "crying" about a slow rescue:

Rush Limbaugh, 7/19:
"Even in the eyes of our ingrate, spoiled-rotten little children, brat-type ingrate citizens in Beirut, it’s our fault. (Crying.) 'It’s a war zone. It’s a war! How do I get out? (crying) We’re having to shield ourselves from the sun in cardboard.' (sobbing) That’s embarrassing.

Fox anchor Neil Cavuto, 7/20:
"The media is playing up a lot of whining, complaining Americans in this country who said there’s been no warning, no communication."

TownHall.com columnist Mike Gallagher, 7/21:
"Amazingly, we’re not even going to charge these ungrateful evacuees for the free trip home. … Their sense of outrage and entitlement is slowly but surely becoming the American way. And it’s positively disgusting."

Fox anchor Steve Doocy, 7/19:
"Shockingly, after they’ve been plucked out of Beirut, a lot of them are whining and complaining that, you know what, I had to sleep on the concrete and they didn’t have any food for me to eat."

Update: Much to the chagrin of those above (including Rush, War-zone Limbaugh), due in part to the embarrassing publicity, the fee to be rescued from the war zone has been waived. God Bless America!